Libby's Colonial Tea Room facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Libby's Colonial Tea Room
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| Nearest city | 2713 Post Road, Wells, Maine |
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| Area | 16 acres (6.5 ha) |
| Built | 1923 |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian, Bungalow/craftsman |
| NRHP reference No. | 99000769 |
| Added to NRHP | January 19, 2001 |
Libby's Colonial Tea Room is a special old building located in Wells, Maine. It was built in 1922 as a restaurant, a place where people could stop and eat. Today, this historic building is home to the Johnson Hall Museum. This museum is a private collection of interesting items from American history. The building is important because it's one of the few places left from the 1920s that was built for tourists traveling by car. Because of its history, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Contents
What the Building Looks Like
The Johnson Hall Museum is on the east side of US Route 1 in Wells. You can drive up to the building on a curved driveway. It's a single-story building, meaning it has only one floor. The roof is wide and not very steep, with a special cross-gable shape.
Porch and Entrance
A porch wraps around the building, and its roof is held up by round columns. There's also a special covered entrance called a porte-cochere, which has its own gabled roof. This was a place where cars could pull up so people could get out without getting wet. The roof edges have deep overhangs and large, decorative brackets, which are common in the Craftsman style of building.
Inside the Building
The main door is in the middle of the front of the building. It has columns on each side and a fanlight window above it. Inside, the building has a waiting room. There are also offices and bathrooms on the sides. The biggest part of the building is a large dining room, where the tea room guests used to eat.
A Look Back at Its History
The story of Libby's Colonial Tea Room began with Elsie Klingman Libby. She ran a restaurant at this spot, likely in an older house. Sadly, that house was destroyed by a fire in 1922. But Elsie didn't give up! She quickly rebuilt, creating the building we see today.
The Tea Room Years
Elsie ran her tea room until 1942. At that time, fewer tourists were traveling because of World War II. This made it hard for the business to continue. A very famous guest once visited the tea room: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He stopped by in 1932 when he was campaigning to become president.
The Museum Today
The building now houses the Johnson Hall Museum. The museum's founder, William “Bill” Johnson, passed away in 2014. Most of the museum's items were sold at an auction in 2015. The building itself was constructed in 1923 by Reginald J. Grant. There is a cupola on the building that looks like those on Howard Johnson restaurants, but this part was added later and was not part of the original 1920s design.
See also
